Friday, April 19, 2013

Here's another page from my grandmother Emma (Bickerstaff) Meinzen's Webster's Spelling Recipe Book. The patent number date is 14, 1909, so we know Gramma wrote the recipes after that. In 1909 she was 16, but the handwriting looks like it's written with a mature hand. I have no doubt that she used these recipes: they are spotted and dotted with ingredients that missed the bowl! If you'd like to see the other recipes from her book, click on recipes under the Post Topics at the bottom of the page and a list will appear.

The dip recipe is a sweet one, probably used for fresh fruit, or
possibly for cakes or cookies at parties or on special occasions. I
don't ever remember my grandmother making or serving it.

The order of ingredients for the Molasses Cake, which sounds quite a lot
like gingerbread, seems unusual to me. Commonly, cake batter is mixed with
sugar and eggs first, then other liquid
ingredients, with dry ingredients last (unless liquid and dry ingredients
are alternated). It's also hard to tell what's to be mixed together
from the way this recipe's written. The spices could easily be mixed in
either the flour or the molasses. I think the lard and soda go into 1
cup of hot water. Cakes are usually baked in a 350-degree oven for anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 or 50 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness: stick it in the cake, if it comes our clean, the cake is done; if it comes out with moist cake ingredients on it, bake a little longer.

She was not a teacher. Yes, it is a page from a tablet of spelling test forms. The front says, "Webster's Spelling. Special Form Spelling Blanks." There's a space for name of student, grade, school, and class on the front, so each student had his own. I don't know when she wrote the recipes. The copyright date on the front is 1909 but I know she wrote the recipes after 1911 because she mentions Crisco. I wonder if was a book left over from her own schooling. I'll probably never know. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment, Dodi.

About Me

Sometimes I want to jump back in time, into the lives of my ancestors. Not to stay, of course -- too many modern conveniences I'd rather not do without -- but to meet them and watch their interactions with each other. Since I can't do that, I spend time learning about them and the times in which they lived. I look forward to meeting them. I've been seriously searching for my ancestors for nearly 8 years. I plan to continue indefinitely.
If you think we might have ancestors in common or you'd like to contact me for any other reason, please email me at myancestorsandme @ gmail.com.